


Be Your Own Hero

by FreezerM



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Beating, Blood, Boxing, Bruises, Bullying, Comfort, Dealing With Problems, Dealing with PTSD, Depressing, Douchbag Andrew, Facing Your Demons, First Chapter is a big trigger, First Kiss, Getting to Know Each Other, Gym, Helping Each Other, High School, Hospital, Hurt!Stiles, Living Together, M/M, Making Friends, Muscles, Oblivious Stiles, Other, PTSD, Please Don't Read If Any Of This Triggers You, Rape/Non-con - Freeform, Recovery, Sad, Self-Defence, Slow Burn, So slow that you're already burned to death before anything happens, Support, Supportive!Derek, Training, Triggers, True Love, Unfair life, Violence, Weight Lifting, X-SPORT, beaten up, bullied!stiles, coach!derek, getting better, injuries, nice!derek, nose bleed, offensive language, personal trainer!derek, strong!stiles, trainer!Derek, working out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 16:21:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8923993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreezerM/pseuds/FreezerM
Summary: Stiles is very familiar with being bullied. For a year now it has turned into serious beatings. One day it goes too far, leaving Stiles with some serious injuries that change his look on life.Deciding to become a stronger and better person Stiles decides to sign himself up for self-defence classes at X-SPORT. Enter Derek, the supportive trainer/coach that helps Stiles to become stronger, helps him with his PTSD and together they become an amazing team.





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. His skin was covered in bruises. Quickly he put his clothes back on and got ready for school.  


‘Morning dad’, he said when entering the kitchen. His dad was sitting at the counter, reading a newspaper and drinking his coffee.  


‘Morning Stiles’. His dad said before putting away his coffee mug and putting on his coat.  


‘I will be doing a double shift so I will see you tomorrow son, take care’. The Sheriff said before gathering his stuff and walking out the door.

Stiles wasn’t surprised, ever since many employees got fired at the police station, his father had been throwing himself into his work so much, that he was barely home. His dad didn’t even look him in the eye before leaving and Stiles felt sadder.  


Without thinking about any other depressing thoughts, he gathered his stuff and went out for another school day.

 

~

 

He arrived at school in his Jeep, looking for an empty parking spot. He thought he saw one in the distance and he was right, but it was taken before he could park his Jeep. 

Eventually he ended up in one of the parking spaces near the forest and quite a distance away from the school. He would have to run to make it to his first class in time.  


He arrived just in time, his back sweaty and out of breath from the running. He should really pick up exercising some more. 

Class after class, boringness was the main description of his schooldays. He kept up with his schoolwork, passed his tests and tried to stay in the background as much as possible. During lunch, he mostly hid. These day he hid in the bathroom so he wouldn’t run into anyone.  


When the bell sounded again, Stiles gathered his stuff and left the bathroom.  


Only for someone to bump into him and push him back in the bathroom.

‘So, here’s where you’ve been hiding, Stilinski?’ A male voice said. Stiles was shoved into an empty stall and lost his balance, almost slipping to the ground if it hadn’t been for the guy’s fist in his shirt holding him up.  


‘Look at you Stilinski, clumsy little faggot, that’s what you are. Hiding in the bathroom, ha, you’re such a loser’. The guy punched Stiles in the stomach and Stiles let himself fall to the ground. 

He used to talk back to the bullies. Eventually he realised that that was what made them hit and punch him even more. Ever since that conclusion, he hasn’t said a word to them anymore.  


‘Don’t you dare hide from us anymore, Stilinski. I will tell my friends where they can find you, haha. See you after last period!’ And he kicked Stiles in the stomach again. As his fist let loose Stiles fell to the ground.

Stiles coughed and tears started stinging in his eyes. He wouldn’t let them fall... not again. The guy left and Stiles tried to calm his breathing. Four second breathing in, six seconds breathing out. He lifted his shirt and saw a big bruise forming on his stomach. It matched the older bruises that were already there.  


Stiles lifted himself up and looked at the clock, he was almost too late for his next class. With reluctance, he grabbed his bag and went towards his next class.

The bullying had been going on ever since kindergarten, but it started turning into serious beatings ever since last year. 

Just around the time that Stiles’ dad got more into his work and barely spend any time at home.

Not wanting to bother his father and make his life more difficult, Stiles decided not to tell him and just wait until the beatings would eventually stop… They had to eventually stop, right?

A year later and Stiles was still getting beaten up. His only safe place was his home so the weekends were very nice for him. On schooldays, he mostly got beaten up twice a day. He thought that finding a hiding space during lunch time would prevent him getting shoved into lockers and beaten up in the hallways while all the other students were eating in the cafeteria.  


Stiles arrived late to his last class, and of course it was chemistry by Harris, who immediately gave Stiles detention. No free time for Stiles.  
After chemistry Stiles made his way over to the detention class and spend the next two hours of his life staring at his table and doing nothing but staying quiet.  


He used to be a talkative person always saying what he thought and what his opinions were.  
But after his father barely talked to him anymore and he wanted to get beaten up less he started talking less.  
It wasn’t like he had any friends to be talking to anyway. Stiles would imagine that if he ever did tell anyone about what was happening that they would simply just look at him in pity and think of him as weak. 

He wasn’t weak alright… Honestly if they would ask him why he didn’t do anything about it, he’d probably tell them that he deserved it.  
He was the reason his mom died, he is the reason his father must work so much to pay the bills and honestly how could he even stop the bullying it isn’t like he suddenly has super strength or something. Stiles sighed as the bell finally rang and his detention was done. 

 

~

 

Walking all the way back to his car in the dark and freezing cold because it was winter, really made him regret not being earlier this morning so he could park closer by.  
Arriving by his car he put his backpack in the car and walked around to get to the drivers’ seat.

Suddenly something pulled him away from the car and he could feel a hand grabbing onto the back of his jacket. 

‘Hey!’ He exclaimed, trying to turn around and see who was pulling him away. He got thrown to the ground, expecting asphalt but ending up on softer ground. He was pulled into the forest, next to which he was parked, Stiles realised. Facing who had thrown him he saw the same guy that beat him at lunch time. Only this time there were four more guys.  


‘Suddenly talking, Stilinski?’ The first guy said with a sneer on his face. 

‘Who would’ve thought after all this time you still had a voice?’ The guy laughed and the four other guys that stood behind him also started laughing.  
Suddenly Stiles realised that he was in deep shit this time. Usually when they beat him at school there was always something stopping it from going too far like next period or someone walking by… but now, lying on the forest floor in the dark and cold with everybody most likely already at home. There was nothing stopping this guys from beating Stiles to death.  


‘Why don’t you say something again, Stilinski?’ The same guy said. Stiles decided to call him Snake-face, since he looked like a snake so much.  
The other guys started saying ‘Yeah Stilinski, why don’t you say something, eh?’

’Yeah Stilinski, come on let us hear your beautiful faggot voice!’ All the others were laughing.  


Stiles started to back up slowly but ended up with his back against a tree. He started to lift himself up so he could at least face the music while standing up.  


‘No don’t go and stand now Stilinski, you belong on the ground’, another guy said. And they all started laughing again. Stiles was still trying to stand up.

‘We said, stay down’. A voice behind him suddenly said as he got kicked to the ground. Suddenly there were five guys leaning over him, laughing, calling him names, and before Stiles had the time to get up again they all started kicking. 

Kicks in his stomach, legs, he put his arms up to protect his face but a foot still managed to hit his nose and eye as they started bleeding. 

He grunted out in pain every time another kick landed on his already bruised body. 

He tried looking through their legs to see some point of escaping – but there was nothing there. It was dark so no one would see him, nobody would even be around at this hour and he could never escape five guys while already being beaten up so bad.  


‘What should we do with this faggot, guys?’ One guy said aloud. 

‘We should show him his place’ Another one said as the kicking stopped. Stiles was pulled up by the hair as his face got knocked against a tree. 

‘Look at you, faggot Stilinski, all beaten up, face bloody. This is probably what turns you one isn’t it?’ Snake-guy sneered at him. Another guy leaned over them and suddenly grabbed Stiles by the crotch. 

‘You’re right, Andrew he’s already hard’ The guy laughed in Stiles’ face. Stiles started kicking his legs, by luck hitting the guy in the leg as he let go and stumbled away.

‘Look at that, still some strength left in him’ Snake-guy, Andrew said. 

‘Let’s get rid of that guys!’ Once again Stiles was surrounded by all five guys again and this time they weren’t only kicking him but also punching. He was still being held up by his hair which felt like it was torn out of his head. Feet were kicking at his knees making him fall to the ground if it hadn’t been for the hand grabbing onto his hair. 

He was punched in the stomach and ribs and some other guy was using his head as a punching bag. Every time Stiles was hit in the head his head bumped against the tree which he was leaning against.  


‘Look at that Stilinski, you’re being covered in your favourite colour.’ Andrew whispered in his ear.'

Bet you really love this, don’t ya Stilinski, you dirty faggot’. While the four other guys kept punching and kicking him, Andrew held on to Stiles’ hair and whispered in his ear. Stiles tried to shake himself loose. Suddenly Andrew let go of his hair and Stiles fell to the ground. 

‘I think we finally shut him up guys.’ Andrew said with satisfaction. 

‘Let’s go, guys.’ Another guy said. Stiles could hear footsteps leaving and tried to open his eyes. One of his eyes was shut because of the punching and his other eye could barely see anything because there was blood covering it. He could hear the shattering of glass in the distance.

‘Think this is over, Stilinski? I didn’t think so’, Andrew said, he was apparently still around. Stiles got pulled up of the ground again by the hair, another hand on this jaw, painfully making him open his mouth. 

‘Why don’t you suck on this, you little cocksucker’ Andrew said. Stiles couldn’t see what was happening, everything hurt and suddenly something was shoved down his throat. He started gagging and couldn’t breathe properly. 

‘Come on, Stilinski, I know you were made for this.’ Andrew said and suddenly Stiles realised what was being jabbed into his throat. He started heaving but couldn’t do anything. His jaw was painfully being held open by Andrew’s hand so he couldn’t bite down. He could barely breathe and tears were rolling down his cheeks. The jabbing in his throat became rougher and eventually his mouth was filled with Andrew’s cum. 

‘Well done, you cockslut.’ Andrew said. Stiles could hear Andrews zipper being pulled up and when Andrew let go of Stiles jaw, Stiles started dry heaving while collapsing on the ground.  
‘See you later, Stilinski.’ Andrew said and Stiles could hear footsteps leaving him.

He was lying down on the forest ground, still dry heaving and spitting out all he could, his left eye was seeing clearly again – blood being cleared away by his tears. Everything hurt and tears kept flowing down his cheeks. 

He tried to calm his breathing – because at this rate he would give himself a heart attacks. Four seconds breathing in and six seconds breathing out.  


He could finally breathe again as he slowly got up. Using the tree next to him as leverage to pull himself up. Every step he took towards his Jeep was another reminder of what happened, another tear that fell and another grunt because of the immense pain. 

When he arrived to his Jeep he saw that the windows had been smashed and his tires had gone flat.

Stiles fell to the ground – crying out loud for once – wishing for something to just go right in his life. 

 

~

 

After laying next to his Jeep for however long, Stiles became colder and colder. He knew he would have to walk home.  


So, that’s what he did. 

Step by step he walked himself all the way home, trying to hold in the grunts of pain and the traumatising memories.


	2. Chapter 2

Arriving at his home two hours later, Stiles painfully climbed the stairs. He immediately pulled himself into the bathroom and got in the shower. 

With his clothes, still on he turned on the shower and cleaned his mouth with all he could, he even used soap which only started to make him dry heave again. 

He slowly took his clothes of. Seeing the bruises on his body. There were four major bruises, two on his ribs, one on his back and one on his right leg. 

These were the ones that made walking all the way home especially difficult. Stiles washed himself as best as he could and then got out of the shower. Not wanting to see any more of his beaten-up body – he quickly covered himself in his sleeping clothes and climbed into bed. That night he cried himself to sleep – thinking about what he could do to end this once and for all. 

 

~

 

Waking up the next morning was unexpectedly even more painful than the night before. The aching of his bruises was horrible but the reoccurring thoughts almost gave Stiles another panic attack. Stiles got himself out of bed and went to his desk. On the internet, he searched for self-defence classes. When he would be able to walk again without pain, Stiles would try out for the self-defence classes so he would never let this happen again. 

At around noon Stiles could hear his dad come home. Normally his dad would immediately go for his bedroom and sleep but this time he called Stiles’ name. Stiles wanted to get up so he could go to his door and reply to him, but he twisted his knee wrong while trying to stand up and ended up on the ground again. 

‘Stiles?’ He could hear his dad call, concern laced in his voice. Stiles tried to get up when he heard his dad coming up the stairs. He was almost standing when his dad entered his room. 

‘Omg Stiles, what happened?’ His dad walked towards him and wanted to touch him to help him stand up. He shouldn’t have done that since touching Stiles meant touching one big bruise. Stiles yelped  
out in pain and collapsed onto the ground once more. 

‘Omg Stiles, who did this to you?’ Dad’s hands didn’t know where to touch Stiles but he slowly started turning Stiles’ face. Looking at the bruises that covered it, the eye that was all blue and still wouldn’t open and who knew what else his dad saw. Stiles still hadn’t looked at himself in the mirror. His dad lifted his shirt up slowly to only see the big fat bruises that covered Stiles’ ribs. 

‘I don’t need to see anymore, get up Stiles we’re going to hospital’. His dad said. 

‘No dad… We don’t have the money for that- ‘ 

‘You must be crazy thinking that I would care about money when you’re beaten up this bad Stiles. You could have an internal bleeding for crying out loud!’ His dad yelled. 

‘We’re going right now, come on.’ His dad helped him get up again, slowly and Stiles stopped protesting. Taking steps one by one, swallowing his cries of pain which were even worse when going down the stairs. He didn’t want to do this to his dad financially but he didn’t really have another choice. And maybe his dad was right, maybe his condition was even worse than what it looked like on the outside. He let himself be put into his dad’s car and his dad drove them to hospital. 

‘I got a report about your Jeep still being in the school parking lot last night with the windows smashed and the tires flat. I thought that that would be it but looking at you right now I’m so sorry that I didn’t go and check out the scene.’ His dad said. 

Stiles almost had to dry heave again thinking about his dad seeing him in the situation he was in last night. He wouldn’t want that 

‘It’s okay dad, I understand.’

’You shouldn’t understand – you should be mad with me son, I’m so mad with myself for thinking you would be fine how stupid am I?!’ His dad cried out. Stiles decided not to talk again, not wanting to make his dad more upset.

 

~

 

When they arrived to hospital his dad made sure Stiles would immediately get checked out. After several scans, his blood being taken and a lot of doctors and nurses checking on his bruises Stiles was left on a hospital bed in a white and plain room. He was left alone with his thoughts which made tears fall down his cheeks once again. He got angry at himself for crying and being such a weak person. If only he exercised and was strong he could have kicked all their butts last night and none of this would have happened.

After what could have been an hour – a doctor entered the room with his dad behind him. There was nothing wrong with him apart from the bruises. His eye would heal and so would the rest of his body. 

Only his leg could take a little bit longer because the muscle was damaged as well. Stiles wouldn’t be allowed to walk without crutches for at least two weeks.

After the doctor left his dad took a seat next to his bed. 

‘You will be staying here for the rest of today Stiles, some deputies will be coming in to take your statement. And I want you to tell them all what happened.’ His dad looked at him, 

‘I’m serious Stiles, don’t you dare lie to them’. Stiles nodded. Not seeing a problem with this since he didn’t even really know the guys that beat him up. He only knew Andrew’s name… It wouldn’t be lying to just say that he didn’t know that name either, right?

‘I’m going to take an extra shift now so I can be home when you will be let out of hospital.’ His dad held his hand and then stood up and left the room.

 

~

 

Stiles didn’t lie to the deputies. He just didn’t tell them everything. He didn’t want them to know how weak he was. Telling them that he got beaten up by five guys was embarrassing enough. Also, telling him about what Andrew did to him? He wasn’t going to do that.

Luckily Stiles’ insurance covered the hospital visit and the deputies would be taking care of his Jeep which he would get back in a week. It’s not as if he would be able to drive with his crutches.  
Stiles had to deal with his own thoughts for the rest of the day lying there in the hospital. 

‘Get some sleep hon,’ a nurse said. He couldn’t. Every time he closed his eyes he could feel Andrew’s sneer directed at him and he could feel Andrew’s dick in his mouth all over again. He tried to stay distracted – watched some television and made up stories in his mind. Most of the times the stories were about him training, becoming strong and kicking the living shit of all the guys that bullied him and of Andrew especially. At least he had something in his life that was keeping him going.

 

~

 

When Stiles got discharged, his dad was waiting for him, as promised. They drove home in awkward silence. His dad had made the couch downstairs into a bed so Stiles wouldn’t have to climb the stairs. 

‘Thanks dad.’ Stiles mumbled, tired after the whole day. Lying down on the couch immediately after having taken off his shoes.

‘I heard what happened from the deputy’s son, don’t worry. We will find those guys and make sure they will never do this again.’ His dad said while pulling a blanket over Stiles’ body. ‘Goodnight son’. 

‘Night dad...’ Stiles didn’t want his dad to take care of the guys. He wanted to take care of them himself – he thought while pure exhaustion claimed his mind and body.


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles startled out of his bed – or replacement for his bed, the couch - being awoken by another nightmare of Andrew’s horrible face. Every night he woke up about three times because of horrible nightmares of what happened to him. He even tried to just not sleep for a while but exhaustion always got him in the end. 

He was glad his dad didn’t let him go to school while he was recovering. He could almost walk the stairs again even though he technically still wasn’t allowed to – what else was he supposed to do while his dad was at work?

Today would be the last day that Stiles would have to walk with crutches – which was fucking great because they were giving his arms even more bruises. His eye was all better and he could finally see in 3D again. He was excited to be able to sleep in his own bed again.

‘Stiles, I’m going out for a while.’ Stiles was shaken from his thoughts by his dad’s voice. He had been searching the internet for hours every day since he didn’t have anything else to do. This was his opportunity to get outside and into the city for at least a while. 

‘Can I join you?’ Stiles asked while getting up from the couch.

‘Sure, come on let’s go. I’ve just got some groceries to do.’ His dad said as they both walked to the car.

 

~

 

Once they arrived in the city and his dad went to do groceries – Stiles had a plan of his own. He walked with his crutches towards a place called X-SPORT and luckily the door was open.

Stiles walked into the building. Leaving his crutches at the door. He walked into a big space with a boxing arena and on the other side of the space there were lots of weights and other training equipment. 

For a second he thought he was in the wrong place. He heard a punching bag being punched in the distance. Probably someone working out Stiles thought, while walking towards the sound - slowly because he couldn’t lean on his crutches.

'Can I help you?' the guy that was making the sound said. Punching a punching bag and not stopping. His back was turned to Stiles so how he knew that there was someone behind him - Stiles couldn’t say.

'Um yeah I would like to sign up…' Stiles said while still looking around at the space.

The guy stopped punching and turned around. Expressive eyebrows and a sour expression on the guy’s face turned to greet Stiles. 'Why?' the guy asked. His eyebrows doing a weird dance thingy.  
Stiles didn’t need to think about the answer. 'I'd like to be my own hero.'

The guy’s sour expression became a bit less frowny. 'Come back in a week when you've completely healed,' the guy said while turning around again and continuing his exercise.

'What do you -'

'I could hear you walk in with crutches. Come back when you’re fully healed.'

Stiles was taken by surprise. The entrance was far away from where they stood. How the guy could have heard him entering with his crutches, he couldn’t tell.

'Okay.' Stiles said and turned around to walk away. He paused before picking up his crutches by the entrance.

'Thanks.' he said and walked out of the building.

 

~

 

‘Everything went okay?’ Dad asked when Stiles returned to the car with his crutches.

‘Yeah, sorry to keep you waiting’. Stiles said as he slowly got into the car. 

‘That’s alright son. Just let me know if you ever want me to give you a lift again.’ His dad’s offer was very kind. Especially since they both knew that from tomorrow on Stiles could drive in the Jeep again. Stiles thought that his dad was probably still looking out for him. He must have heard some of the screams Stiles let out when waking up from his nightmares.

As they arrived back home his dad immediately left for work. Knowing Stiles could only go back to X-SPORT if he was fully healed he searched the internet for remedies to heal his body faster. This occupied him for the rest of the day.

 

~

 

Not having to use his crutches anymore was a huge relief but it also kind of sucked. Stiles came to the realisation soon that he still wasn’t fully healed. Every step still hurt even though it hurt way less than it used to. 

His face was almost looking normal again – bruises turning dark brown before they slowly disappeared. He knew he couldn’t avoid going to school any longer or else he would have to re-do a whole year. 

Before his dad could give him the talk that he would have to return, Stiles took matters in his own hands. After the weekend, he could walk normally again without the constant pain. He also didn’t walk with the speed of an old man anymore. 

So, he returned to school, tried to stay out of everyone’s hair. He didn’t hide anymore so at lunch he simply just sat in de cafeteria. He always stayed around crowds so nobody could get to him and to his surprise he found out that this was a much better solution than any he’d ever come up with before. 

Day after day passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Stiles started exercising by himself when he could run again on his leg. Every day he went jogging and after a week of that he was confident about starting at X-SPORT. 

 

~

 

When he arrived on a Thursday evening the place was a lot busier than the last time he was there and there was only one guy. It kind of shocked him to see so many people exercising here and he almost backed out of the idea of training there.

‘You again… Healed?’ A familiar voice said from next to him. He turned around to see the same guy he talked to last time.

‘Yeah, all healed and 100% and ready for action.’ Stiles said happily.

‘Well, that’s good. Follow me.’ The grumpy guy said as he led Stiles towards a reception desk.

‘So, which training would you like to sign up to?’ The guy said as he grabbed several maps and started looking through them.

‘Um… I kind of wanted to do the self-defence classes’. Stiles said, feeling a bit embarrassed about it.

The grumpy guy looked up with one of his eyebrows turned up high and the other very low – if it wasn’t such an awkward situation, Stiles would have laughed in his face.

‘Alright then, first class self-defence is in an hour’. And Stiles was a bit surprised. He would have expected at least a bit of a comment about him being weak indeed and needing it. Although the guy does work here so he probably isn’t allowed to offend his (future)clients.

‘First class will be free and then you can decide with or without advice how many classes you would like to take or need. Fill in your information here, please.’ The guy handed him a form and Stiles filled in   
his personal information before handing the form back over again.

The guy looked at the form. ‘Thanks…. Stiles?’ Stiles nodded and the guy got a frown back on his face again. 

‘My name is Derek and I will be your self-defence trainer, I will see you in a bit we will be over in space A.’ Derek said as he then walked away. Stiles was a bit shocked. This muscular dude was supposed to teach him self-defence? At the first exercise Stiles would most likely already be beaten into a pulp. Thinking about why his life sucked so much, Stiles explored the rest of the compound and looked   
around.

 

~

 

There were a lot of people training at this hour. Some people were around his age, most a bit older. There weren’t that many very old people as he would have expected at a normal gym. 

There were hardcore muscle guys that were lifting weights that would probably be ten times Stiles’ weight. There were the less muscly people that were lither. This place had all the different sort of people. To Stiles’ surprise there was an equal amount of men and woman exercising.

Thinking his class would start soon he got changed and after that headed over to space A.

 

~

 

When entering the training space Stiles was relieved to see more people his age and not only men but also women. When the space was almost filled Derek walked in to start the lesson. Stiles could immediately see that some of these people were very experienced while others… not so. 

After the lesson, they could keep exercising in the main areas. Even though most people left Stiles was feeling a little bit disappointed that learning all this self-defence would take so long. He headed over to the boxing area and started exercising on a punching bag.

‘I hope you know your stance isn’t right.’ Stiles turned around to see Derek approaching him.

‘You should put your legs more apart, left one first and right one behind, also you should turn your body sideways.’ Derek said as he walked over to Stiles to put his foot between Stiles’ legs and shove them a bit more apart. Stiles was a bit shocked but did the stance like Derek told him to.

‘That’s better. Now if you punch – always remember to keep one hand in front of your face. The punching bag might not punch back but you never know.’ Derek said, watching as Stiles continued training.

‘You did well today, for a first timer.’ Stiles stopped exercising to notice Derek still standing there. The guy was giving him a compliment. Who would have thought that could happen?

‘Thanks.’ Stiles said. 

‘Will you be here next week? ’Derek asked. Stiles nodded as he grabbed his stuff and headed over to the dressing rooms before heading home.

‘See you next week, Derek.’ Stiles called over his shoulder before he went home.

 

~

 

Stiles didn’t return next week. He returned the next day. He started lifting weights even though they were nothing compared to the weights the other guys were lifting. He started boxing regularly – but never with an actual person, always with the punching bag. On the third day Derek approached him again.

‘Remind me not to ever piss you off.’ Derek said as he saw Stiles exercising at the punching bag. ‘Your stance is very good.’ 

‘Thanks for teaching me, Derek.’ Stiles said while he kept exercising. Suddenly the punching bag was being held still.

‘Let’s go and sit for a bit, Stiles. Come with me.’ Derek said. Stiles didn’t want to but something inside of him was curious about what Derek wanted from him.

‘I’ve been noticing that you’ve been coming around here every day now.’ Derek said as they both sat down in a secluded corner of the space. 

‘Nothing wrong with that, but I would like to offer you a training buddy.’ Stiles looked up at him with surprise in his eyes. He preferred to train alone so no one would trigger his PTSD towards what happened to him. 

‘I can tell that your muscles must really be aching,’ Derek said knowingly. Stiles stopped his hand from unconsciously massaging his upper thigh from the exercises he did yesterday.

‘I would like to be your training buddy so I can tell you when you’re overdoing it, should take a break or simply can keep going.’ Derek said while looking him straight in the eye. Stiles simply nodded.

‘We will start tomorrow at eight.’ Derek said and then walked away.

Stiles didn’t know what to expect of this – it did sound wise; his muscles really did ache from all the training. But he also didn’t want anyone to hold him back.

 

~

 

The next day Stiles and Derek met at eight. Derek, surprisingly, was a good coach. He didn’t talk too much, gave clear explanations when Stiles was doing something wrong and most of the time he trained with Stiles. 

Even though Derek could lift way heavier weights. It was kind of… satisfying to have someone to spend time with. Every time Derek asked him what he wanted to do next – Stiles never   
went to the boxing arena out of fear of reliving any memories from what happened to him. Even weirder was that it looked as if Derek understood him.

 

~

 

After two weeks of training though, Derek immediately herded him towards the boxing arena. ‘You’re ready for this, you’ve been training enough. Come on Stiles.’ Derek already grabbed his own gloves and climbed up into the arena.

Stiles didn’t have a choice – at least. That’s what he liked to tell himself. They started boxing and it went well. Derek didn’t go too hard on him and Stiles could block most shots. Except this one, he got hit on his shoulder but the force that was behind it made Stiles tumble to the floor. He wanted to get up immediately and keep going but something inside him triggered the memories of what happened to him. His breathing got shallower and slowly his vision became darker.

‘Stiles. Come on, breathe deeply Stiles. In and out.’ Derek said from next to him. Derek did the breaths and Stiles breathed with him. Slowly the horrible images and memories disappeared and Stiles could breathe again. 

Derek was hovering in front of him. Green eyes met his – filled with worry. Not with pity which made Stiles feel relieved. Derek helped him upright and suddenly something from inside Stiles made him realise that he would have to talk about what happened to him with someone.

‘Would you like to go and drink coffee or something sometime?’ Stiles bluntly asked Derek. Derek was still checking Stiles over so he was a bit surprised about the sudden change of subject.

‘Sure.’ Derek said, taken by surprise.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow then.’ Stiles said quickly as he disappeared out of the arena.

 

~

 

To say that it was awkward would be a statement. They were sitting in a coffee shop nearby the X-SPORT. It was weird seeing Derek in clothes other than his exercising clothes. Holding a phone in his hand, talking to the barista and carrying two coffees over to their table. The whole situation was just weird. Still Stiles couldn’t help but think about how he could get used to this.

‘I’m sorry about yesterday’. Stiles said to Derek as he took his seat.

‘That’s okay. I’ve worked with many people before – each has their own problems.’ Derek said. Stiles shouldn’t be surprised that Derek had probably seen a situation like his before – he teaches self-defence classes for a reason.

‘I would like to tell you what happened.’ Stiles said – still a bit unsure but still really wanting to share his story with someone who would listen.   
When Derek nodded, Stiles let go of a big breath and told him everything.

He told Derek how he always got bullied, how the bullying turned into beating after a while. His situation at home which didn’t make it any better – his mom dying and his father throwing himself into his   
work. And finally, he told Derek about what happened in the forest those three months ago - well except for what Andrew did to him. He would never tell a soul that. There was moisture rolling down his cheeks and at the end he realised he had been crying once again. Suddenly he regretted telling Derek and didn’t dare to look him in the eyes.

‘I think that this is the most that I’ve ever heard you talking, Stiles.’ Stiles looks up and sees a kind smile on Derek’s face. Stiles gives a small smile back and releases a sigh of relief.

‘I realised that if I didn’t talk back to the bullies that they would hurt me less. I don’t think I will ever get used to my own voice talking again.’ He said through his tears.

‘Well, I like your voice. So, I want to hear you talking every day from now on.’ Derek said with a serious look on his face. 

‘We will keep training as we have been doing lately, taking the boxing together step by step. We will overcome this together Stiles.’

Stiles’ face got a sincere smile on it for the first time in what must have been years. 

‘Thanks.’ He said to Derek. Remembering that Derek would like him to start talking more he added ‘I really mean it Derek. Thanks so much. For listening and helping me.’

Derek smiled at him. ‘You’re welcome Stiles. Here… let me give you my number so we can keep in touch.’ Derek said as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket. They exchanged numbers before they both left.

 

~

 

To his surprise, his dad was home as well when Stiles arrived. 

‘Hi dad’. He called out as he shook off his jacket and entered the living room where his dad was sitting. 

‘Hi son’. He said while turning around, ‘Looks like you’ve had a good day?’ His dad said with a smile on his face. Stiles nodded and went to sit next to him. They watched the match together – it must have been years since they last did that. It made Stiles feel very happy.


	4. Chapter 4

To say that Stiles’ and Derek’s friendship developed from there on would be an understatement. After their meeting in the coffee shop where Stiles told Derek everything, they started texting almost every day. 

Small things like when they would exercise again but also big things like how Stiles was doing and what Derek had been up to lately.  
During one of their workout sessions they decided to get a drink afterwards. 

‘How has school been?’ Derek asked Stiles after taking a sip from his drink. Stiles never really gave a descriptive reply when Derek asked that question via text. Stiles should have known he would ask him this. Stiles looks at him, ‘honestly… it isn’t that bad like it used to be. I’ve learned to blend in and I haven’t really run into any more trouble lately.’

‘You interested in a dare?’ Derek suddenly asks him. Stiles looks at him surprised.

‘Sure.’ He says doubtfully.

‘I dare you to talk to a fellow classmate next week.’ Derek says, Stiles looks at him sceptically.

‘And what will happen if I do?’ Stiles asks.

‘I will teach you that one fighting move that you’ve been wanting to do forever.’ Derek smirks at him and Stiles sighs, knowing he will need to do what Derek says.

 

~

 

So, that’s what Stiles does the next day during lunch. He picks a random table to sit at and starts talking to a guy sitting next to him. Before he knows it, the whole table is talking with him and he suddenly gets to know four new people. Who then turn out to be in a few of his classes.

Scott apparently lives very close by Stiles and they start hanging out after school hours. They both like playing video games. After one of their gaming sessions a week later, Stiles texts Derek:

_Made some new friends, thanks for the advice. S_

Without Derek, he probably wouldn’t have taken the step towards making new friends.

_Training at eight then, tomorrow? Will teach you that new move. D_

Stiles smiles to himself – yeah Derek is definitely one of the good guys.

 

~

 

Derek does teach him the move as promised. After another one of their training sessions Derek asks him if he would like to help him move house tomorrow.  
Apparently, the landlord of his current apartment will become bankrupt soon and Derek isn’t willing to wait for that to happen. 

Only when Stiles confirms that he will be helping Derek tomorrow, does he realise that this will be the first time that they will be meeting somewhere that is not in public. 

He doesn’t really know how to feel about that. Their friendship really has been growing for these last few weeks and Stiles couldn’t do most of what he did if he didn’t have Derek’s help. Still he doesn’t want to make anything between them awkward because that will definitely ruin things. 

He decides to just take everything slow and see where it will go, day by day.

 

~

 

Derek’s apartment is already filled with boxes so Stiles doesn’t really get an impression of how the guys lives. It takes about three days to move all the boxes to his new apartment. When Stiles comes by a week later he is really surprised by how the apartment turned out. It looks very cosy and he would be up to spending more time there. Oddly enough – that happens as well. 

Instead of going home after school, Stiles decides to go to Derek’s and do his homework there. Most of the time Derek isn’t there but working at X-SPORT. When Stiles is done with his homework he goes there to train as usual. He still follows the self-defence classes every week but apart from that he trains with Derek most of the time.

 

~

 

Things at school are going fine as well. His grades are okay again after him being away for a while after the accident. During lunch hour, he actually has a table with friends to sit at. During classes, group projects aren’t that horrible anymore since his friends are in most of his classes as well. Everything is going perfectly fine until he forgets his history book and heads over to his locker while his friends already go to class. Having grabbed his book, he closes his locker only to get slammed into it.

‘I’ve missed you Stilinski.’ A guy says from behind him. Stiles knows how to get out of this hold from his self-defence classes so that’s what he does.  He gets out of the guy’s hold and turns around – slamming him into the locker, only to realise that it’s Andrew. His muscles freeze and his breathing becomes shallow.

‘Look at you Stilinski, suddenly having muscles and being able to defend yourself… Cute’ Andrew sneers at him, removing Stiles’ hand painfully and quickly walking away before the second bell rings.

Stiles doesn’t know what happened. All this time learning how to defend himself – and not only to defend himself but also being able to really beat someone up. He’s presented with this wonderful opportunity to beat the guy he utterly hates – and his whole body freezes.

He is still stood in front of his locker flabbergasted by what just happened. He grabs his phone and hits speed dial.

‘Stiles? You okay?’ Derek’s voice sooths him a bit but he’s still too shocked to calm his breathing down.  
Derek must hear his laboured breaths through the phone. ‘Stiles I need you to breathe okay, I’m here for you, come on Stiles. Deep breaths – four seconds in, six seconds out. I know you know this Stiles.’ Derek keeps rambling to him through the phone. Oddly enough it is calming and Stiles is breathing normally again pretty soon.

‘Stiles, please talk to me? I need to know you’re okay. Otherwise I’m coming over.’ Derek says through the phone. Stiles takes a deep breath.

‘I couldn’t do it Derek. After all this time… I just froze.’ Stiles mumbles into the phone.

‘I’m coming right now. Stay where you are.’ Derek says through the phone and Stiles stays where he is. Frozen and holding onto the phone like it is his lifeline.

 

~

 

Stiles doesn’t know how long it took but he can hear someone walking towards him. 

‘Stiles?’ It’s Derek. Derek walks up to him, touches a hand on his shoulder. When Stiles still doesn’t acknowledge him Derek slowly grabs the phone out of Stiles’ hand and turns Stiles around. Holding Stiles’ face between his hands Derek looks Stiles in the eyes.

‘Tell me what happened Stiles.’ Derek asks in a soft voice. His green eyes staring into Stiles’. Suddenly he can snap out of his trance-like state.

‘I could have knocked him out. But I just… couldn’t…’Stiles mumbles. Derek looks at him confused. ‘The guy that bullied me – he knocked me into the lockers but I got out of his hold. I had him right in front of me but I just couldn’t punch him. My whole body froze up.’ Stiles admits to Derek.

Derek’s hold on his face becomes more firm. ‘Stiles… I’m so proud of you.’  
Stiles looks up at Derek, confused and surprised.

‘It’s one thing to get beaten up – it’s completely another to beat someone else up.’ Derek says to him. Stiles doesn’t understand and he thinks Derek can see that since he starts talking again.

‘Taking revenge Stiles… Beating him up like he did to you… It would have turned you into the bully. You would have become what you most loath.’

‘I’m weak… I should have just taken him down.’ Stiles says – still stuck in his mindset.

‘You’re not weak, Stiles. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.’ Derek says to him – looking him in the eyes.  
Not really believing him – Stiles nods anyways.

‘Come, let’s go home.’ Derek says. Grabbing Stiles’ stuff from off the ground and Stiles’ hand and dragging him towards the exit of the school. 

Stiles has already missed his history class and he’s not in the mood for any more classes today, so he joins Derek.


	5. Epilogue

‘How do you feel?’ Derek asks. They’ve just arrived at Derek’s apartment. Derek just made them some tea and hands Stiles’ tea over to him.  
Stiles is no longer shocked although the result of what just happened does still surprise him.

‘I’m okay I guess…’ Stiles says before taking a sip of the smoking hot tea.

‘You can say and think what you want to Stiles. But I’m proud of you. You’ve come so far. Talking about what happened to you. Learning to take care of yourself. Being strong enough to not become the villain yourself. I really admire you and I’m so happy to have been able to come on this journey with you.’ Derek says to Stiles before putting his tea on the coffee table. Stiles does the same when he suddenly comes to a realisation.

He turns towards Derek on the sofa. ‘No, Derek. Thank you so much, without you I wouldn’t have been able to change and do what I can now do.’

‘I’m sure you would have done fine.’ Derek says, denying the situation. Stiles shakes his head.

‘You’re the reason Derek. You’re the reason for me finally becoming close to my dad again. You’re the reason I have made friends and I don’t dread school anymore. You’re the reason I can take care of myself and am no longer frightened every time someone walks by me. You’re the reason I smile when I wake up. You’re the reason Derek.’ Stiles says on one breath. Realising that tears have been rolling down his cheeks halfway through his speech.

‘Stiles… You’re the reason I’m loving my job again. You’re the reason for me to get up in the morning, do what I should do, pay my rent. You’re the reason I even use my apartment and don’t just sleep at work. You’re the reason for me to smile when I wake up.’ Derek says to him in return. 

Holding Stiles’ head between his two palms once again like he did before. They look in each other’s eyes – both emotional wrecks. Stiles gives a faint smile to Derek and Derek returns it.

They both move towards each other and come together in a kiss. Filled with feelings, reasons, hopes and dreams for the future. Which they just can’t wait to share with each other.

 

~

 

Stiles tells Derek about what really happened between him and Andrew. Derek rages for a while, wanting to beat Andrew up – eventually it turns into remorse for what Stiles must have been going through. 

After Derek accepts that it happened and they can’t really do anything about it without becoming the bullies themselves he orders Stiles to tell his dad, the Sheriff. 

So maybe they can do something about it. 

After much fighting over this – Stiles eventually does tell the Sheriff. Because it happened some time ago – the police can’t do anything about it and Stiles doesn’t really have any evidence either.  
It is the reason for the Sheriff to talk to the principal of the school. Which leads to self-defence classes becoming mandatory for first year students.

Derek gets asked to become the self-defence teacher at the school. After talking this through with Stiles, they both decide that this would be a bad decision for their relationship. 

Their relationship is their number one priority and Derek continues giving classes at X-SPORT like he always did.

Stiles keeps going to his self-defence classes every week. They still work out together and after that, they go home together.

 

**The End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. If you liked it, please let me know by leaving a kudo/comment!  
> Any mistakes are my own.  
> This is a work of fiction - my apologies if I didn't portray something according to real-life. I don't have any knowlegde on these subjects.
> 
> If you're being bullied or are in any sort of trouble - please find help.  
> Be Your Own Hero!


End file.
